26 feels much like 25. But I am now officially closer to 30. 27 seems more intimidating as far as that fact goes.

Loved spending time with mucho familia last week. We got some quality time with all 5 nieces + their parents + many extended family (and mom and dad too.) We were blessed!

Weird to think that today is the last day of the year and decade. I've been too busy to enjoy the countdowns of the "best of..." for the year and decade but to say the least, this decade has been much more eventful than the last!

I think I might actually try to stick to my new years resolutions this next year. Try something new for a change. First up, try to get in shape. I'm pathetically out of shape and it's shameful! Now to go enjoy some Klondike bars that were Buy One, Get One...:)

Have a great New Years! May 2010 be a blessed one for you and your family!

I appreciated all your suggestions! I may go with some of them in the future. This year, I went with Ramona Quimby. I grew up loving the books and I always try and pick something the students will know. I was the Ramona from the book "Beezus and Ramona" (which is a finally a movie next year!) complete with overalls and homemade bunny ears. It's really fun to be a 4 year old for pretend.

This Friday is our school's annual Fall Festival. I am planning it this year with the help of two other wonderful ladies and my OCD, over planning tendencies are coming out full force! But I'm hoping a well-planned event will mean lots of fun for the kids. I love planning things! I also have to find time to teach in there somewhere, but I guess I can squeeze it in.

I'm really looking forward to the holidays this year because for the first time since our engagement, we both get to spend both holidays with family! For Thanksgiving, we'll be with Ryan's mom's extended family in a cabin outside of Indianapolis and the week of Christmas at my parents! I'll get to meet niece #5, Bonnie, and Ryan will actually get to spend more than a day with my family. The financial services industry is a great to work for, but difficult for time off! This is the first time he's gotten both holidays off.

The best news circulating around our lives right now is the good health reports of both our dads. This summer, Ryan's dad had hip surgery and as a freak side effect, his vision went double for over 2 months. His hip feels great now and his vision is restored. My dad is still receiving monthly treatments for his carcinoid tumors that cover his liver and litter his spine, hips, and skull. In addition, he's been on a juicing/raw food diet and natural supplements since February. Last week, he got reports back that not only has there been NO growth in any spot (first time ever!), but it appears the spot on his skull and one on his spine have disappeared! They have been on his scan since 2005 and they were no where to be found! We are very thankful and look forward to celebrating with him soon.

Other than that, we're just plodding along. Ryan begins his "Voice of the Falcons" gig again this weekend and I'm gearing up for Christmas making/shopping when I can find some time.

What are you all up to these last two months of 2009?

I need help thinking of costumes! Every year Book Character Day plagues me because I care too much about being creative. So hence, I'm idea-less.

I have been: Hermoine, Ms. Frizzle, and the Golden Ticket from Charlie and Chocolate Factory.

I'm up for any girl, boy, animal, or inanimate object. Please help!

From FoxNews.com....

"Scientists claim the giant atom-smashing Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is being jinxed from the future to save the world.

In a bizarre sci-fi theory, Danish physicist Dr Holger Bech Nielsen and Dr Masao Ninomiya from Japan claim nature is trying to prevent the LHC from finding the elusive Higgs boson. Called the "God particle," the theoretical boson could explain the origins of mass in the universe — if physicists can find the darn thing.

The scientists say their math proves nature will "ripple backward through time" to stop the LHC before it can create the God particle, like a time traveller who goes back in time to kill his grandfather.

“One could even almost say that we have a model for God,” Dr Nielsen says in an unpublished essay. “He rather hates Higgs particles, and attempts to avoid them.”

"While it is a paradox to go back in time and kill your grandfather, physicists agree there is no paradox if you go back in time and save him from being hit by a bus," Dannis Overbye wrote in the New York Times.

"In the case of the Higgs and the collider, it is as if something is going back in time to keep the universe from being hit by a bus."

“It must be our prediction that all Higgs producing machines shall have bad luck,” Dr Nielsen told the New York Times.

European science agency CERN designed the world's biggest particle accelerator to shoot beams around a freezing 27km concrete ring underground near Geneva, smashing atoms together in search of the elusive "God particle" believed present at the Big Bang.

The multi-billion-dollar machine, built over almost 20 years, was set to launch in late 2008 but broke down after it overheated during a test run.

The relaunch was pushed back to late 2009 as more parts had to be replaced, and CERN was recently scandalised when a LHC scientist was found to have approached al-Qaeda for work.

The LHC - which features in sci-fi plots such as Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and the new TV show FlashForward - has been dubbed a "doomsday device" with claims it will open black holes.

Last year, Professor Brian Cox of Manchester University told the UK Telegraph that LHC scientists had received threatening emails and phone calls demanding that the experiment be halted.

But Prof Cox, ex-keyboardist for 1990's pop group D:REAM, dismissed the hysteria in rock-star style.

"Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a tw—," he said.

The LHC is set to start up again next month."


I don't know what's worse...the BILLIONS of dollars spent of this (and yes, the US contributed) or the fact that even after all their failed attempts, they STILL don't get that maybe we shouldn't even be pursuing this. They even, kind of, admit they think God is thwarting their attempts, yet they still press on. Tower of Babel Take 2...

Play....check
CLS....check
Hospitality for Ladies Weekend....check

Now on to school and home stuff that fell by the wayside...
Planning Fall Festival
Student Council Projects and Red Ribbon Week
The numerous lesson plans yet to be made
The piles that seem to be breeding in my classroom
The pile of clothes that reaches my knees just begging to be ironed
Cleaning out our plethoras of junk
Getting ready for our young ladies Fall study
Making pumpkin stuff!

Happy Fall!

Looking forward to the remainder of the year. Meeting my new niece, seeing Chantel after waaaaaay too long, spending BOTH holidays with family (a first since our marriage), and finally having my whole immediate family in one place for more than a day. Much to be thankful for this year!